Centre hopes to offset NRC fallout with Clause 6 push

GUWAHATI: In an attempt to wriggle out of the citizenship maze in Assam, the Centre is pushing for the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which offers constitutional protection to indigenous people of the state but has not taken any concrete form in 34 years. This comes amid speculation that a huge number of migrants from Bangladesh have found place in the NRC. The BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Assam have been demanding reverification of NRC data, appeals for which the Supreme Court has turned down twice.

"Where are the millions of Bangladeshi immigrants whose presence sparked the six-year-long agitation? We don't see them excluded from the NRC. Either the claims during the agitation were wrong or this NRC needs to be reviewed," a source in the BJP-led government said. "This was the reason the state government and the Centre wanted a reverification. Nevertheless, we have to abide by the Supreme Court's ruling (rejecting reverification)," the source added. The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 at the end of a violent six-year-long anti-foreigner movement.